Weighing conveyor for transporting shock sensitive products at a variable feed rate

ABSTRACT

A conveyor for shock-sensitive products includes a conveyor member with at least one intermediate storage region adapted to receive a predetermined number of the products placed thereon when the conveyor is a static condition for temporary intermediate storage. A force measuring member determines the weight force of the products in the intermediate storage region. A control member, adapted to increase and decrease the rate of feed of the shock-sensitive products in the conveyor member, processes the weight force detected by the force measuring member as an input parameter, and increases or reduces the rate of feed of the products toward and away from the intermediate storage region as a function of the weight force.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention concerns a conveyor arrangement for shock-sensitiveproducts, such as eggs or the like, and includes a conveyor apparatusfor conveying the products, an intermediate storage region which isadapted to receive products temporarily by virtue of discontinuous feedor discharge, and a control device for increasing the discharge and/orfor reducing the feed of products into the intermediate storage regionof the conveyor apparatus when a predetermined critical number ofproducts is exceeded in the intermediate storage region.

Conveyor arrangements are generally used for transporting eggs away froma laying area and feeding them to a packaging station. That purpose isserved by using particular conveyor arrangements which include atransverse conveyor belt which conveys products to a processing stationand a plurality of longitudinal conveyor belts which are so arrangedthat they convey products from various, mutually spaced locations ontothe transverse conveyor belt. In such devices, the longitudinal conveyorbelts extend along a row of henhouses or aviaries and are generallyprovided individually for each level or tier. The transverse conveyorbelts are typically mounted at a right angle to the longitudinalconveyor belts which are disposed in a parallel relationship, andreceive the eggs which are transported by the longitudinal conveyorbelts out of the laying areas.

A first problem arising with such prior conveyor arrangements is thatconveyance of the eggs on the longitudinal conveyor belts, which extendsover a period of time, causes the feed of the eggs by way of thetransverse conveyor belt to the processing station to be discontinuous,and in an amount which is insufficient to make full use of theprocessing capacity of the processing station. To avoid this problem, itis known for a plurality of longitudinal conveyor belts to besimultaneously activated to supply the transverse conveyor belt with anadequate amount of eggs. A problem with that procedure, however, is thatthe spaced points of entry of the longitudinal conveyor belts mean thatthe transverse conveyor belt cannot be filled uniformly, and thetransverse conveyor belt capacities are exceeded locally, which usuallyleads to damage to the eggs.

A further problem with such prior conveyor arrangements is that only lowegg conveyor rates are achieved at both the beginning of the conveyorcycle or operation, and at the end of the cycle, since an excessivelylow level of supply to the transverse conveyor belt occurs by virtue ofstarting up the first longitudinal conveyor belt and allowing the lastlongitudinal conveyor belt to run down. That increases or prolongs theprocessing time at the processing station, which is disadvantageous forcost reasons.

Particularly in relatively large henhouse installations, it is oftendesirable for the eggs to be collected in batches or groups from givenlocations, for example because certain henhouses involve theadministration of a different feed from other henhouses, and the eggsproduced in that way are to be supplied as an interrelated assembly tothe processing station in order to be jointly processed, for examplepackaged. It is in precisely such situations where the egg collectingoperation, with for example up to 15 different groups, takes place insuccession. However, it is not possible to achieve full utilization ofthe processing capacity of the processing station at all times with thepreviously known measures of simultaneously switching on differentlongitudinal conveyor belts so that, in such situations of use,considerably longer operating times in the processing station andconsequently longer collecting times and higher operating costs have tobe tolerated.

A further problem with such prior conveyor arrangements involves inparticular keeping laying hens in an aviary in animal-friendlyconditions. In such a situation, the animals are provided with a nest inwhich the animals preferably lay their eggs. The eggs roll onto thelongitudinal conveyor belt from the nest. However, the locallyconcentrated accumulation of the laid eggs results in overfilling of thelongitudinal conveyor belt in the nest region, and that can lead todamage to the eggs. In contrast, keeping the hens in cages leads to thelaid eggs being distributed over the entire cage width, andconsequently, one-off or sequential activation of the longitudinalconveyor belts per day would be sufficient to collect the laid eggs, itbeing necessary when keeping the birds in animal-friendly aviaries forthe collecting operation to be carried out a number of times daily byvirtue of local overfilling of the longitudinal conveyor belts.

Yet a further problem with such prior conveyor arrangements is that abuild-up can occur due to congestion or processing problems upstream ofor in the processing station, and as a result, high damaging forces canact on the eggs. To avoid that problem, it is known to provide a limitswitch which is actuated by the egg collection, and which switches offthe transverse conveyor belt when an inadmissibly high force occurs.However, from the point of view of utilizing the full capacity of theprocessing station, a certain build-up or accumulation upstream of theprocessing station is desired as a buffer, switching off the transverseconveyor belt in that way results in the transverse conveyor belt beingvery frequently switched on and off, and that can cause increased wearand premature failure.

Finally, a further problem with known conveyor apparatuses is that, whensupplying products from a plurality of conveyor belts to a commoncollecting conveyor belt, damage to the products often occurs if theadditionally supplied products first have to displace the products whichare already on the collecting conveyor belt, and in that case,unacceptably high forces are operative between the products. To avoidsuch damage, it is known to provide product guide devices which arestationarily fixed in position relative to the movement of thecollecting conveyor belt, and which guide the products already on thecollecting conveyor belt upstream of the entry regions of furtherproducts in such a way that they are guided away from the entry regionand space is thus made available for the products which are additionallyarriving. Those product guide devices have to be regularly repositionedand set to accommodate changing delivery conditions, either due todelivery from different delivery conveyor belts or due to varyingdelivery conveyor quotas, and that makes handling thereof moredifficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One object of the present invention is to provide a conveyor arrangementwhich avoids one, and preferably a plurality, of the aforementionedproblems.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a force measuring deviceis provided which is adapted and arranged to detect a force which isexerted by the products disposed in an intermediate storage region, andwhich represents a measurement of the number of products in theintermediate storage region, and a control device adapted to process theforce detected by the force measuring device as an input parameter, andto increase or reduce the discharge and/or feed of the products from/tothe intermediate storage region in accordance with the force value.

The invention makes it possible for the first time to achievedifferentiated actuation of the discharging and feeding conveyorapparatuses, in accordance with the force responsible for damage to theproducts. In that way, the filling of the intermediate storage regionthat is sought to be achieved, for example to supply a processingstation or to receive products from a product region, can be effected ina very much more specific and targeted fashion, and it is thus possibleto achieve an intermediate storage region filling effect, without thefrequent starting and stopping of the conveyor apparatus as is requiredin the state of the art.

In that embodiment, it is particularly preferred that the control deviceis adapted to actuate the conveyor apparatus at a first and a secondconveyor speed, wherein the second speed is higher than the first speed.In that way, it is possible to select a suitable speed depending upon onthe force measurement value in order to increase or reduce the number ofproducts in the intermediate storage region. Thus, upon a reduction inthe detected force, the second speed can be selected while upon anincrease in the detected force, the first speed can be selected.Furthermore, the first and second speeds can be set when the forcevalues fall below or exceed predetermined force limit values.

It is further preferred that the control device is adapted to adjust theconveyor apparatus preferably steplessly in accordance with the forcedetected by the force measuring device. Stepless control of the conveyorapparatus allows highly precise regulation of the number of products inthe intermediate storage region or the force occurring between theproducts.

It is further preferred that the control device is adapted to reduce thefeed of products to the intermediate storage region and/or to increasethe discharge from the intermediate storage region when a predeterminedforce value is exceeded. That provides for simple and reliable controlor regulation of product conveyance.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the conveyor arrangement, theforce measuring device is arranged beneath the products in theintermediate storage region in order to measure in a vertical directionand to detect the total or cumulative force due to weight of theproducts in the intermediate storage region. This arrangement isparticularly suitable for use in the region of a nest when animals arebeing kept in an aviary situation. In that respect, the force measuringdevice can be so arranged that it measures the force due to weight ofthe eggs on the longitudinal belt in the region of the nest, and causesa conveying movement on the part of the longitudinal conveyor belt whena predetermined force due to weight is exceeded in order to prevent abuild-up of the eggs.

In that embodiment, it is particularly preferred that the forcemeasuring device is coupled to a horizontally arranged weighing platearranged beneath a conveyor belt on which the products are arranged inthe intermediate storage region. Weighing of all the products in theintermediate storage region is thus achieved in a reliable andstructurally robust fashion.

In particular, it is preferable that the control device is adapted toactuate the conveyor apparatus from a stopped condition when apredetermined cumulative force due to weight of the products in theintermediate storage region is exceeded, so that the products arefurther conveyed to such an extent that all products are conveyed out ofthe intermediate storage region. In that way, a conveying action,partial or complete, is implemented in accordance with the products inthe intermediate storage region, and it is possible to avoid a build-up.

It is particularly preferred that the conveyor apparatus includes aconveyor belt on which the intermediate storage region extends by agiven length, and the control device is adapted so that the conveyorbelt is further conveyed by precisely the length of the intermediatestorage region when a predetermined cumulative force caused by theweight of the products in the intermediate storage region is exceeded.That arrangement provides that, upon complete filling of theintermediate storage region, the conveyor belt is advanced, only to suchan extent that the subsequent filling of the conveyor belt occurs in aregion directly adjoining or adjacent to the previously filled region,and in that way, complete filling of the longitudinal conveyor belt isprogressively achieved over a large region.

Thus, in one aspect of the conveyor arrangement, a plurality of mutuallyspaced intermediate storage regions are arranged along the conveyorbelt, and the control device is so adapted that when a predeterminedcumulative force caused by the weight of the products is first exceededin an intermediate storage region, the conveyor belt is further conveyedby the length of the intermediate storage means. When a predeterminedcumulative force due to the weight of the products is subsequentlyexceeded in the intermediate storage region, the conveyor belt isconveyed further once again by the length of the intermediate storagemeans, and that procedure is optionally repeated up to a predeterminednumber of repetitions until the conveyor belt is full. The conveyor beltis then driven until the products are conveyed from the conveyor beltonto a second conveyor apparatus or into a storage space.

In this embodiment, when using the conveyor arrangement as alongitudinal conveyor belt, a multiple advance movement of thelongitudinal conveyor belt is effected in a stepwise fashion over adiscrete advance distance which corresponds to the length of theintermediate storage region. In that way, adjacent regions on thelongitudinal conveyor belt are filled in succession over time. Aplurality of nest regions are usually arranged along the longitudinalconveyor belt, and then after a given number of such discrete advancemovements, a longitudinal conveyor belt portion, which is filled up byan adjacent nest region, would be conveyed into the nest region of ajuxtaposed aviary, and in that case, there would be the danger of abuild-up of eggs occurring, as there is no longer any free longitudinalconveyor belt region available. Therefore, when the longitudinalconveyor belt is typically completely filled, continuous activation ofthe longitudinal conveyor belt is implemented in order to convey theeggs toward a storage space, for example onto a transverse conveyorbelt.

A further development of the conveyor arrangement includes providing aplurality of conveyor belts, each having at least one respectiveintermediate storage region, arranged so that at least one intermediatestorage region includes a force sensor for measuring the force due tothe weight of the products in the intermediate storage region, and thecontrol device is so adapted that all conveyor belts are furtherconveyed by the length of the intermediate storage means when apredetermined cumulative force due to the weight of the products in thatintermediate storage region is exceeded. That arrangement is suitable inparticular for a plurality of henhouses, and is based on the realizationthat typically each aviary has a similar laying capacity, so that it issufficient if the laid eggs are weighed only in the region of the nestof one aviary, and then all conveyor belts are advanced when a givenforce or weight value in that region is exceeded.

A further aspect of that arrangement includes providing a plurality ofconveyor belts, each having at least one respective intermediate storageregion with a force sensor for measuring the force caused by the weightof the products in the intermediate storage region, and a control deviceadapted so that all conveyor belts are further conveyed by the length ofthe intermediate storage means when the force due to the weight of theproducts in one intermediate storage region with force sensor, or themean value of the force due to the weight of the products in allintermediate storage regions with force sensor, exceeds a predeterminedforce due to the weight of the products. With this embodiment, a greaterdegree of security or precision in relation to irregularities in thelaying capacity is achieved, insofar as the laid eggs of a plurality ofaviaries are measured, and then all longitudinal conveyor belts areadvanced in dependence on those measurement values.

In a second particularly preferred configuration of the conveyorarrangement according to the invention, the force measuring device iscoupled to a movable wall portion to detect the horizontal surfacepressure exerted by the products on the movable wall portion as apressing force on the movable portion. This feature is particularlysuitable for monitoring the eggs conveyed by the transverse conveyorbelt in the region upstream of a packaging station to avoid damage tothose eggs if build-ups occur in the packaging station. Detection of adifferentiated pressing force allows precise control of the supply ofeggs and avoids damage or frequently recurring stopping and starting ofthe transverse conveyor belt.

In that embodiment, it is particularly preferred that the forcemeasuring device is coupled to a movable wall portion to detect thehorizontal surface pressure exerted by the products on the movable wallportion as a pressing force on the movable portion. That featureprovides for precise measurement of the pressing force, and thusgenerates an input parameter which is reliable for the control orregulating action. In that embodiment, it is alternatively possible toprovide a plurality of force measuring devices, each having a respectivemovable wall portion, which for example, can lie laterally and inopposite relationship to the products which are being conveyedtherethrough, or which can also be arranged in the form of a measuringisland in the flow of products.

A further development in the embodiments with a horizontally measuringforce sensor is providing the movable wall portion with a first wallsurface region which faces in opposite relationship to the feed conveyordevice into the intermediate storage region, and a second wall surfaceregion which faces parallel to the feed conveyor device. It has beenfound that the provision of two such wall surface regions provides fordetection, which is desirable in terms of ascertaining the actualproduct loading of the conveyor force in the conveyor direction and thetransverse force produced thereby with respect to the conveyordirection, which represents an input parameter directly related to therisk of product damage, for the regulating or control action.

In that embodiment, the movable wall portion can be of a half-roundshape. Thus, a preferred structure is a half-round wall portion, whichis mounted pivotably at one end, and spaced from that mounting iscoupled to the force sensor and transmits a force to the sensor.

In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, to avoid theabove-discussed disadvantages of known conveyor arrangements, there isproposed a conveyor arrangement, comprising a conveyor apparatus forconveying the products, an intermediate storage region which is adaptedto receive products which are to be put temporarily into intermediatestorage by virtue of discontinuous feed or discharge, a control devicefor increasing the discharge and/or for reducing the feed of productsinto the intermediate storage region of the conveyor apparatus when apredetermined critical number of products is exceeded in theintermediate storage region, wherein the conveyor arrangement isdistinguished in that a measuring device is arranged in the intermediatestorage region, which is adapted and arranged to detect the number ofproducts standing up in the intermediate storage region, and whichrepresents a measurement of the horizontal force between the products inthe intermediate storage region, and the control device is adapted toprocess the number detected by the measuring device as an inputparameter and to increase or reduce the discharge and/or feed of theproducts from/to the intermediate storage region as a function thereof.

This aspect of the invention represents an alternative for directmeasurement of the force in the intermediate storage region, and isbased on the realization that the products accumulated in theintermediate storage region, when a given horizontal pressing forceamong each other is exceeded, have a tendency to stand up or be arrangedin a mutually superposed relationship in the intermediate storageregion. The number of the products which project in that way beyond theproducts, which are lying flat on the base surface of the intermediatestorage region, whether that occurs by virtue of the products standingup or by virtue of their being supported on an adjacent product, is ameasurement of the magnitude of the horizontal forces between theproducts in the intermediate storage region, and can therefore be usedas an input parameter for the control device. That conveyor arrangementis suitable in particular for conveying eggs which typically, when anincreased conveyor pressure is involved, tend to stand up, andaccordingly afford a reliable indication in the form of a plurality ofeggs standing on their rounded ends, when a predetermined criticalhorizontal force has been exceeded.

In that way, the conveyor arrangement can be used in the same fashion aspreviously discussed for effecting stepless or dynamic transverse beltregulation, which can be regulated as a function of the number ofproducts which are standing up in the intermediate storage region, in aclosed regulating circuit.

The measuring device can be for example in the form of a plurality oflight barrier arrangements, which measure horizontally over the productswhich are lying flat in the intermediate storage region, whereinpreferably mutually crossing light paths are used in order to ensurecoverage and detection over the area involved.

It is further preferred that the intermediate storage region is arrangedin the transfer region between a first feeding conveyor apparatus and asecond discharging conveyor apparatus, and the control device is soadapted that when a predetermined pressing force between the products,or the number of products standing up in the intermediate storage regionis exceeded, the conveyor rate of the feeding conveyor apparatus isreduced and/or the conveyor rate of the discharging conveyor apparatusis increased.

In that embodiment, the predetermined pressing force, or the number ofproducts which are standing up, is selected for example in dependence onthe pressure sensitivity of the products being conveyed, and can bestored in table form for typical conveyed products in a memory of thecontrol device or can be input by the user of the conveyor arrangementby way of an operating unit.

It is further preferred that the conveyor rate of the conveyor apparatusor apparatuses can be altered by a preferably stepless or dynamicalteration in the conveyor speed. A stepless change in the conveyorspeed, for example by means of frequency converters and electric drivemotors for conveyor belts or bar belt conveyors, makes it possible toachieve particularly precise regulation of the conveyor apparatuses in aclosed regulating circuit, and on the one hand, reliably avoids damageto the products, while on the other hand, ensuring that the products arepermanently held in readiness in the intermediate storage region.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, to avoid theabove-mentioned disadvantages, there is further proposed a conveyorarrangement comprising a transverse conveyor belt which conveys productsto a processing station, and a plurality of longitudinal conveyor beltswhich are so arranged that they convey products onto the transverseconveyor belt at various, mutually spaced locations, wherein adevelopment of the conveyor arrangement provides a device for detectingthe conveyor advance of the transverse conveyor belt, and a regulatingdevice which is coupled to said device, and which is adapted at thebeginning of a conveyor operation of the conveyor arrangement to set thelongitudinal conveyor belts in operation in time-displaced relationshipas a function of the spacing between the entry points onto thetransverse conveyor belt, the processing station, and the advance of thetransverse conveyor belt.

Such conveyor arrangements are used for example to collect the productsfrom production units which are distributed over a large area, andconvey them to a common processing station. For that purpose, there aretypically provided a plurality of longitudinal conveyor belts which arearranged parallel, and in displaced relationship with each other, andwhich meet a common transverse conveyor belt at mutually spaced pointsand convey the products onto the transverse conveyor belt. A problemwith such conveyor arrangements is that in discontinuous operation ofthe longitudinal conveyor belts, a discontinuous feed of the products tothe processing station is also realized. Moreover, due to the spatialarrangement involved, full utilization of the capacity of the processingstation, and the conveyor capacity of the transverse conveyor belt,which is typically matched to that capacity of the processing station,is not possible. The aforementioned aspect of the invention remediesthat disadvantage, insofar as the conveyor advance of the transverseconveyor belt is detected, for example by means of a synchronizingtiming means, and a regulating device is used, which regulates thediscontinuous activation of the longitudinal conveyor belts on the basisof the conveyor advance and the arrangement of the points of entry ofthe longitudinal conveyor belts onto the transverse conveyor belt. Thatregulation can involve on the one hand, activation of the longitudinalconveyor belts (binary regulation), or regulation of the conveyor speedof the longitudinal conveyor belts. Consequently, it is typicallypossible to implement time-displaced actuation of the longitudinalconveyor belts in such a fashion that the products are conveyed in aclosed front, and make full use of the capacity of the transverseconveyor belt, and consequently the capacity of the processing stationis also fully utilized. Also, in a situation involving diminishingconveyance of products from an individual longitudinal conveyor belt,another longitudinal conveyor belt, or the other longitudinal conveyorbelts, can be increased in their conveying action in order to compensatefor that condition, and to initiate compensation in positionallyresolved relationship to the transverse conveyor belt at the location atwhich the deficit has occurred. The regulation of the conveyorarrangement is proposed in a way that makes it possible for the firsttime to fully utilize the capacity of the processing station in anyoperating state, and in that respect, to be able to accommodateinterruptions in the transverse conveyor belt, and fluctuations in theconveyor efficiency of the longitudinal conveyor belts into theregulating and control procedures.

In particular, the noted conveyor arrangement can be combined withcounting devices for the products, which are arranged at the points ofentry of the longitudinal conveyor belts onto the transverse conveyorbelt, and which detect and count the products which are delivered fromeach individual longitudinal conveyor belt. The degree of precision ofregulation can be further increased by using or exploiting the numericaldata ascertained in that way.

One particularly preferred feature for the above-described conveyorarrangement is to provide that the regulating device is adapted to firstset in operation a first longitudinal conveyor belt, which is mostremote from the processing station, and to set in operation a secondconveyor belt arranged closer to the processing station at a time atwhich the transverse conveyor belt has advanced to such an extent thatthe products delivered by the first longitudinal conveyor belt havereached the entry region of the second longitudinal conveyor belt. Thatfeature provides that, after a stoppage of the installation, inparticular after the conveyor arrangement has become completely empty,the transverse conveyor belt is loaded from the plurality oflongitudinal conveyor belts in such a way as to avoid only isolatedproducts being arranged over a longer transverse conveyor belt portion,but instead providing that a front of loaded-on products involving thefull capacity of the processing station is formed on the transverseconveyor belt, whereby full utilization of the processing station can beimplemented at a predeterminable moment in time. That is highlyadvantageous, for example, for collecting eggs from a plurality ofdifferent locations which are spaced from each other to feed the eggs toa packaging station in such a way that the packaging station can beoperated in a fully utilized condition when the operating personnelstart work.

Furthermore, in the aforementioned conveyor arrangements, it isadvantageous if at least two groups of longitudinal conveyor belts areprovided, and the regulating device is adapted to arrange the productsof the longitudinal conveyor belts of a first group on the transverseconveyor belt before the products of the longitudinal conveyor belts ofa second group. It is often desirable for conveyor arrangements to beoperated in such a way that the products are jointly collected fromgiven regions, in particular a plurality of mutually spaced regions. Itis only after that collecting operation is completed that the productsare collected from other, mutually spaced regions. In that way, two ormore groups of production regions can be defined, from which productsare collected sequentially or in succession with respect to time.Ensuring constant or efficient utilization of the capacity of theprocessing station cannot be achieved precisely when using prior artconveyor arrangements and collection strategies. The conveyorarrangement according to the present invention now makes it possible forthe first time also to implement such groupwise collection, and achieveconstant or full utilization of the capacity of the processing station,by virtue of regulation of the longitudinal conveyor belts as a functionof their point of entry, and the transverse belt advance. As in the caseof joint collection and processing of all production regions, operationis based on the principle of feeding the production regions of a groupto the transverse conveyor belt by way of the corresponding longitudinalconveyor belts in such a way that a closed front is formed using thefull processing capacity, and after complete collection of the group,the next closed front of the next group is formed immediately behind theend of the preceding group, and so forth.

In this embodiment, it is particularly preferred that the regulatingdevice is adapted to actuate first in each group the longitudinalconveyor belt most remote from the processing station. This providesthat the groups achieve full levels of utilization of the capacity ofthe processing station, thereby avoiding longer lagging of thetransverse conveyor belt at a low level of utilization of the potentialcapacity.

It is further preferred that the regulating device is adapted to actuatethe longitudinal conveyor belts of the group, with the longitudinalconveyor belt most remote from the processing station as the last group.That has turned out to be advantageous, as otherwise there would be amajor gap on the transverse conveyor belt, which would interfere withfull utilization of the processing station, in the event one of thefront longitudinal conveyor belts in a front group is collected, andfollowing that, the last longitudinal conveyor belt is actuated, wherebythe transverse conveyor belt remains product-free over a lengthcorresponding to the distance between the front and last longitudinalconveyor belts. As an alternative thereto, the longitudinal conveyorbelt most remote from the processing station in the last group could beactivated, and that activation could occur at a predetermined period oftime prior to termination of the activation of the last longitudinalconveyor belt of the previous group. In that case, the conveyor end ofthe previous group is predicted, and the most remote longitudinalconveyor belt can be started in such a way as to avoid a gap formingbetween the two groups.

Groupwise collection can be further optimized if the regulating deviceis adapted to determine the moment of stopping the last longitudinalconveyor belt of a group, and activating the first longitudinal conveyorbelt of a subsequent group as a function of the spacing between thepoint of entry of the last longitudinal conveyor belt, and the firstlongitudinal conveyor belt on the transverse conveyor belt, and thetransverse conveyor belt advance. With this feature, it is possible forthe regulating device to leave between two groups a defined—positive ornegative—spacing, by stopping and starting of the correspondinglongitudinal conveyor belts being controlled in such a way that thegroups specifically overlap or do not overlap, or are at a given spacingfrom each other.

In that case, it is particularly preferred that the regulating device isadapted to stop the longitudinal conveyor belts and the transverseconveyor belt when the last product of a group has been conveyed intothe processing apparatus. In that way, the regulating device affords thepossibility of implementing conversion at the processing station, inorder to process products of different groups in different ways. In thatrespect, the last product of a group, or the first product of afollowing group, can be referred to as a criterion for initiatingstopping of the transverse conveyor belt.

It is further preferred that the regulating device is adapted todetermine the number of times the last products of the last longitudinalconveyor belt of the first group, and the first products of the firstlongitudinal conveyor belt of the second group, are deposited on thetransverse conveyor belt in a joint mixed region. That produces a mixedregion, which for example, contains products of different qualitylevels, and in the processing of which it is therefore necessary toaccept that products of a higher quality level are sorted into apackaging which is classified with a lower quality level. With thisfeature, it is possible to achieve the advantage that the capacity ofthe processing station is fully utilized without interruption, and afluent change takes place between the products in the first and secondgroups. In that case, the mixed region is treated in the processingstation like the group with the products of the lower quality, andaccordingly prior to or after the beginning of the mixed region,conversion of the processing mode is effected at the processing station,depending on whether the products are worse or better from one group toanother in terms of their quality.

Finally, it is also preferred that, in the groupwise collection of theproducts, the regulating device is adapted to determine the number oftimes the longitudinal conveyor belts of the successive groups arestarted and stopped in such a way to form an intermediate space on thetransverse conveyor belt between the products of the first group and thesecond group. In that way, a period of time for conversion of theprocessing station can be afforded without interrupting the conveyorprocedure.

The conveyor arrangement according to one aspect of the invention can bedesigned so that the regulating device is adapted to activate so manylongitudinal conveyor belts and/or to regulate the conveyor speed of theactivated longitudinal conveyor belts in such a way that so manyproducts are fed to each region of the transverse conveyor belt that apredetermined capacity of the processing station is achieved. In thatway, full utilization of the capacity of the processing station isachieved by activation and/or speed regulation of the longitudinalconveyor belts, at any moment in time.

It is further preferred that the regulating device is adapted toallocate a fraction of the transverse conveyor belt width to eachactivated longitudinal conveyor belt, and to regulate the conveyor speedof each longitudinal conveyor belt in such a way that the respectivelyallocated width of the transverse conveyor belt is filled up withproducts by the respective longitudinal conveyor belt. That allocationmeans that each individual longitudinal conveyor belt can be regulatedwith respect to the conveyor capacity in such a way that the fraction ofthe transverse conveyor belt width that is allocated thereto is fullyutilized. That makes it possible for longitudinal conveyor belts, whichare to be emptied in a particularly rapid manner, to be provided with alarge fraction of the transverse conveyor belt width, and therefore topreferably collect products therefrom. Also, longitudinal conveyorbelts, which are collected over a longer period of time, provide only asmall fraction of the transverse conveyor belt width and implementcorrespondingly slower collection.

In particular, in that respect, it is preferable that each longitudinalconveyor belt pre-stores a given number of products, and the regulatingdevice is coupled to sensors for detecting the products still stored oneach longitudinal conveyor belt, and is adapted to allocate to alongitudinal conveyor belt with few products, a smaller fraction of thetransverse conveyor belt width than is allocated to a longitudinalconveyor belt with more products so that emptying of all longitudinalconveyor belts is finished or terminated at the same time, or in atime-displaced relationship by a given amount. This development of theinvention provides that, besides full utilization of the capacity of theprocessing station from the beginning of the conveyor operation, whichis possible with the conveyor arrangement according to the invention,the arrangement also provides for full utilization of the processingstation up to the end of the conveyor operation. The sensors fordetecting the products still stored on each longitudinal conveyor beltcan, in a simple version, comprise travel sensors, which detect theconveyor belt advance of the longitudinal conveyor belt. An improvedversion is achieved by additionally ascertaining the product density onthe longitudinal conveyor belt, for example by counting the products atthe discharge. Particularly, if sensors for detecting the force due tothe weight of the products of the above-described kind are installed, itis possible to infer the total eggs disposed on the longitudinalconveyor belt, from the measured weights.

A typical problem with prior conveyor arrangements is that thelongitudinal conveyor belts have different amounts of products inreadiness, and as a result, the longitudinal conveyor belts which havemore products in readiness than others must still lag behind aftertermination of the conveyor operation of all other longitudinal conveyorbelts. As a result, only a small amount of products is delivered ontothe transverse conveyor belt from the individual longitudinal conveyorbelt which is still continuing to convey products. Because of that smallamount, the processing station cannot be utilized to its full capacityover a prolonged period of time. That causes time-intensiverectification at the processing station. With the development accordingto the present invention, it is possible for a large fraction of thetransverse conveyor belt width to be allocated to such longitudinalconveyor belts, whereby the longitudinal conveyor belts with a largernumber of products can be emptied as quickly as the other longitudinalconveyor belts. In that respect, the regulating device according to thepresent invention permits dynamic regulation of the respectivelyallocated transverse conveyor belt widths, that is to say, as soon as agreater transverse conveyor belt width is allocated to a longitudinalconveyor belt which is entirely filled, the transverse conveyor beltwidth of the other longitudinal conveyor belts is dynamically reduced tosuch a degree that in total the proportion attributed to the onelongitudinal conveyor belt is attained. The aim of modified regulationof this kind is to operate the processing station at full capacity up tothe end of the processing operation, and avoid the processing stationlagging behind for isolated subsequently delivered products, at a lowlevel of utilization of its capacity. For that purpose, it willtypically be necessary to stop the longitudinal conveyor belts in atime-displaced relationship, as the longitudinal conveyor belts whichare closest to the processing station have to be stopped last, and themost remote longitudinal conveyor belt has to be stopped first in orderto achieve the desired abrupt termination of product accumulation on thetransverse conveyor belt.

It is particularly preferred that the regulating device is coupled to aforce sensor arranged at the exit region of the transverse forceconveyor belt or a counting sensor of the above-described kind and isadapted to regulate the conveyor speed of the transverse conveyor beltas a function of the sensor signal.

Implementation of such a force sensor, in particular in conjunction withthe conveyor arrangement according to one aspect of the presentinvention with a regulating device, permits reliable, comfortable andconvenient regulation, as the variation in the conveyor speed of thetransverse conveyor belt that is caused by virtue of the force sensor,is incorporated into the regulation action in the form of the transverseconveyor belt advance, and can thus be taken into consideration. Inother words, for the first time it is possible with the conveyorarrangement according to one aspect of the invention to achieve fullutilization of the processing station at any time in the conveyoroperation, and to avoid repeated starting and stopping of the transverseconveyor belt, insofar as stepless regulation of the transverse conveyorbelt is effected, and at the same time, the width of the transverseconveyor belt is completely filled up with products from thelongitudinal conveyor belts at any time and at any location on thetransverse conveyor belt.

Finally, a further development of the conveyor arrangement according toone aspect of the invention provides a display device, which is coupledto the regulating device to obtain from the regulating device signalsfor positionally resolved representation of the number of products onthe transverse conveyor belt. The subject display device makes itpossible for a user or operator of the conveyor arrangement to recognizefull utilization of the individual conveyor belt lines and theprocessing station at a glance, and if necessary, modify and optimizethe regulating procedures by means of parameter selection.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, there is proposeda conveyor arrangement comprising a transverse conveyor belt and aplurality of longitudinal conveyor belts leading onto the transverseconveyor belt, with at least one movable product guide device which isarranged above the transverse conveyor belt, and which is coupled to anactuator, wherein the actuator can move the product guide device into atleast two positions at the support region of the transverse conveyorbelt. The product guide device is laterally placed on the transverseconveyor belt in such a way that it guides the products on thetransverse conveyor belt away from the entry region of at least onelongitudinal conveyor belt. With this conveyor arrangement, it ispossible to avoid a collision between products which are already on thetransverse conveyor belt and products which are arriving from thelongitudinal conveyor belt. The actuator can be actuated electrically,pneumatically, hydraulically or in another fashion. The product guidedevice can be a pivotably mounted plate.

In that embodiment, it is particularly preferred that there are aplurality of movable product guide devices, which are respectivelyarranged upstream of the entry regions of a plurality of longitudinalconveyor belts in the conveyor direction of the transverse conveyorbelt. This feature permits variable product guidance in dependence onthe conveyor state and the activated longitudinal conveyor belts.

It is further preferred that the actuator of each product guide deviceis coupled to a central control device, and is actuated as a function ofthe degree of filling of the transverse conveyor belt as calculated bythe control device from supplied products and transverse belt advanceupstream of the respective product guide device, in order to guide theproducts away from the entry region of the longitudinal conveyor beltsto the degree permitted by the degree of filling. It is possible in thatway to prevent the products from being damaged or laterally pushed awayby the transverse conveyor belt. The product guide device can be so setthat the maximum possible deflection is achieved, or only a fractionthereof, to achieve a deflection which is precisely sufficient toprovide space on the transverse conveyor belt for the products which arestill to be added thereto.

In addition, in the situation involving groupwise collection, it ispreferable that the actuator of each product guide device is actuated inrelation to the collected group. Pre-programmed actuator actuation canbe effected in that way, and can be set in a group-dependentrelationship when the respective group is collected.

The above-described conveyor arrangement according to one aspect of theinvention is preferably used for conveying eggs on a longitudinalconveyor belt on which a plurality of mutually spaced, stationaryintermediate storage regions is provided, which are so arranged thatthey receive the eggs laid in nest regions in cages arranged in a rowalong the longitudinal belt.

The above-described conveyor arrangement according to one aspect of theinvention can further be used for conveying eggs on a transverseconveyor belt in order to convey eggs into an intermediate storageregion, which is arranged in the conveyor direction upstream of aninstallation for further processing, such as a packaging installation.

The conveyor arrangement according to one aspect of the invention ispreferably operated with a method of conveying eggs in the region of ahenhouse comprising a plurality of cage units, comprising the steps:

a. temporarily storing or collecting the eggs laid in a first nestregion of a cage or in a first cage on a first intermediate storageregion of a static or stationary conveyor belt,

b. measuring the cumulative force due to the weight of the eggs in thefirst intermediate storage region,

c. conveyance of the longitudinal conveyor belt by a predetermineddistance, such that a conveyor belt portion which is not occupied witheggs is provided as the first intermediate storage region,

d. repetition of steps a to c up to a time at which further conveyanceof the longitudinal conveyor belt by the predetermined distance wouldprovide a conveyor belt portion already occupied with eggs due to anadjacent second intermediate storage region of a nest region of anadjacent second cage or a second cage as the first intermediate storageregion, and

e. further conveyance of the conveyor belt until the eggs depositedthereon have been transferred completely onto a second conveyor belt orinto a storage means.

Another preferred method to operate the above-described conveyorarrangement comprises the steps:

a. conveying the eggs on a first conveyor apparatus into an intermediatestorage region,

b1. measuring the cumulative pressing force exerted by the eggs on alateral boundary wall portion of the intermediate storage region, or

b2. measuring the eggs standing up in the intermediate storage region,

c. further conveying the eggs out of the intermediate storage region bymeans of a second conveyor apparatus, and

d. regulating the conveyor speed of the first or second conveyorapparatus in dependence on the measured pressing force or the measurednumber of eggs standing up.

In accordance with a further aspect the present conveyor arrangement,the same can be operated with a method comprising the steps: conveyingproducts on a transverse conveyor belt to a processing station, anddelivering products by means of a plurality of longitudinal conveyorbelts onto the transverse conveyor belt at various, mutually spacedlocations, wherein the conveyor advance of the transverse conveyor beltis detected, and at the beginning of the conveyor operation, thelongitudinal conveyor belts are set in operation in a time-displacedrelationship as a function of the spacing between their point of entryonto the transverse conveyor belt and the processing station, and theconveyor advance of the transverse conveyor belt.

It is preferred that the first longitudinal conveyor belt most remotefrom the processing station is set in operation first, and a secondconveyor belt arranged closer to the processing station is set inoperation at a time at which the transverse conveyor belt has advancedto such an extent that the products conveyed by the first longitudinalconveyor belt have reached the entry region of the second longitudinalconveyor belt.

It is preferred that before the beginning of the conveyor operation, atleast two groups of longitudinal conveyor belts are defined, and thelongitudinal conveyor belts of a first group are activated first, andthe longitudinal conveyor belts of a second group are activatedsubsequently.

It is preferred that in each group, the longitudinal conveyor beltfurthest away from the processing station is activated first.

It is preferred that the longitudinal conveyor belts of the group withthe longitudinal conveyor belt furthest away from the processing stationare activated as the last group.

It is preferred that the time of stopping the last longitudinal conveyorbelt of a group and activating the first longitudinal conveyor belt of asubsequent group is determined as a function of the spacing between thepoint of entry of the last longitudinal conveyor belt and the firstlongitudinal conveyor belt to the transverse conveyor belt, and thetransverse conveyor belt advance.

It is preferred that the longitudinal conveyor belts and the transverseconveyor belt are stopped when the last product of a group has beenconveyed into the processing apparatus.

It is preferred that the last product of the last longitudinal conveyorbelt of the first group and the first products of the first longitudinalconveyor belt of the second group are deposited in a common mixed regionon the transverse conveyor belt.

It is preferred that an intermediate space is provided on the transverseconveyor belt between the products of the first group of longitudinalconveyor belts and the products of the second group of longitudinalconveyor belts.

It is preferred that so many longitudinal conveyor belts are activatedand/or the conveyor speed of the activated longitudinal conveyor beltsis regulated, such that so many products are fed to each region of thetransverse conveyor belt that a predetermined capacity of the processingstation is attained.

It is preferred that a fraction of the transverse conveyor belt width isallocated to each activated longitudinal conveyor belt, and the conveyorspeed of each longitudinal conveyor belt is so regulated that therespectively allocated width of the transverse conveyor belt is filledwith products by the respective longitudinal conveyor belt.

It is preferred that each longitudinal conveyor belt pre-stores a givennumber of products, and the products stored on each longitudinalconveyor belt are detected by sensors, and a smaller fraction of thetransverse conveyor belt width is allocated to a longitudinal conveyorbelt with fewer products than the longitudinal conveyor belt with moreproducts, in order to achieve termination of emptying of alllongitudinal conveyor belts at the same time, or in time-displacedrelationship by a given amount.

It is preferred that a force sensor arranged at the discharge region ofthe transverse conveyor belt measures the pressing force prevailinghorizontally between the products at the discharge region, and theconveyor speed of the transverse conveyor belt is regulated inaccordance with the force sensor signal.

It is preferred that the conveyor speed of the transverse conveyor beltis reduced if the measured pressing force exceeds a predetermined value.

It is preferred that the conveyor speed of the transverse conveyor beltis increased if the measured pressing force falls below a predeterminedvalue.

It is preferred that the conveyor speed of the longitudinal conveyorbelts and/or the transverse conveyor belt is steplessly or dynamicallyaltered or varied.

It is preferred that a processing starting time is input, and activationand conveyor speed of the longitudinal conveyor belts and the transverseconveyor belt are started at a time ascertained as a function of thespacing between the longitudinal conveyor belt entry onto the transverseconveyor belt, and the transverse conveyor belt advance, in order tofeed products to the processing station in a predetermined capacity atthe start time of the processing station.

The invention can further be implemented using a computer programproduct for execution on a computer, which is so programmed that itperforms the steps required for regulation of the conveyor arrangementaccording to the invention when it is executed on a computer.

These and other advantages of the invention will be further understoodand appreciated by those skilled in the art by reference to thefollowing written specification, claims and appended drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described with reference tothe Figures in which:

FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic view of a conveyor arrangement having sixhenhouse buildings, longitudinal conveyor belts and a transverseconveyor belt,

FIG. 1 a shows a view on an enlarged scale of an individual henhousebuilding as shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 2 shows a diagrammatic plan view of the region of a row ofhenhouses with aviaries arranged in a mutually juxtaposed relationship,

FIG. 3 shows a side view in cross section of the region of thelongitudinal conveyor belt and the region of rolling out of a nest of anaviary,

FIG. 4 a shows a first embodiment of the entry region of a transverseconveyor belt into a packer with a force pickup device,

FIG. 4 b shows a second embodiment as shown in FIG. 4 a,

FIG. 4 c shows a third embodiment as shown in FIG. 4 a,

FIG. 5 shows a side view of a variant of the embodiments of FIGS. 4 band 4 c,

FIG. 6 shows a plan view of a fourth embodiment as shown in FIG. 4 awith a transverse conveyor belt regulator,

FIG. 7 shows a diagrammatic view of a visualization of the conveyoradvance of a transverse conveyor belt in a start-up phase of theconveyor operation,

FIG. 8 shows a portion from FIG. 7 at a time of termination of theconveyor operation,

FIG. 9 shows a diagrammatic view of a further embodiment of the conveyorarrangement according to the invention with two transverse conveyorbelts,

FIG. 10 shows a diagrammatic view of the visualization of the conveyorbelt advance of the arrangement shown in FIG. 9, and

FIG. 11 shows a diagrammatic plan view of a portion of a transverseconveyor belt with five longitudinal conveyor belts entering the sameand four controllable product guide devices.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

For purposes of description herein, the terms “upper”, “lower”, “right”,“left”, “rear”, “front”, “vertical”, “horizontal” and derivativesthereof shall relate to the invention as oriented in FIGS. 1 and 1 a.However, it is to be understood that the invention may assume variousalternative orientations and step sequences, except where expresslyspecified to the contrary. It is also to be understood that the specificdevices and processes illustrated in the attached drawings, anddescribed in the following specification, are simply exemplaryembodiments of the inventive concepts defined in the appended claims.Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics relatingto the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered aslimiting, unless the claims expressly state otherwise.

FIG. 1 shows an egg farm with six henhouse buildings 1-6, each of whichhas four double rows 1 a-1 d with a plurality of tiers of aviaries orcage systems arranged in rows one behind the other.

The henhouse buildings 1-6 are arranged in mutually juxtaposedrelationship in such a way that a transverse conveyor belt 10 can passin a straight line at the end of the henhouse buildings. The transverseconveyor belt 10 is oriented at a right angle to the rows of aviaries 1a-1 d in the region of the henhouse buildings.

As can be clearly seen in particular from FIG. 1 a, longitudinalconveyor belts 11 a-11 d and 12 a-12 d are arranged in a mutuallyparallel relationship, and are respectively disposed at each side of therows of aviaries 1 a-1 d. Each tier of the rows of aviaries has its ownlongitudinal conveyor belts so that, for the five tiers of the rows ofaviaries as shown in FIGS. 1 and 1 a, there are total of tenlongitudinal conveyor belts for each row of aviaries, and fortylongitudinal conveyor belts for each henhouse building. The longitudinalconveyor belts 11 a-11 d and 12 a-12 d of the individual rows ofaviaries communicate alternatively with an elevator (not shown) at theend of each row of aviaries, which lifts the eggs out of the tenlongitudinal conveyor belts of a row of aviaries onto the transverseconveyor belt 10, or alternatively, the transverse conveyor belt 10 isdisplaced in height and the five tiers of the rows of aviaries arecollected sequentially or in succession with respect to time.

The transverse conveyor belt 10 conveys from right to left in FIGS. 1and 1 a, and opens into a packaging station 20 in which the eggs arepackaged.

A central control and regulating unit 30 is connected to peripheralcontrol and regulating units in each henhouse building, and carries outthe control and regulating procedures according to the invention for thelongitudinal conveyor belts 11 a-11 d and 12 a-12 d and the transverseconveyor belt 10.

A central farm control system 40 permits a selection of parameters, aswell as visualization of the egg collection procedure and the degree ofutilization of the individual conveyor belts.

FIG. 2 shows a plan view of a portion of a double row of aviaries withfour aviaries in an adjoining relationship to the left and the right,respectively, and two further partially illustrated aviaries. Anindividual aviary extends over a length L1 of the longitudinal conveyorbelts 11 a, 12 a. A fraction L2 of the length L1 is occupied by a nestregion L3 in the aviary. In the region of the length L2, over 90 percentof the eggs are laid by the hens in the aviary, so that the longitudinalconveyor belt 11 a is filled in the region L2 in the stopped or staticcondition in a relatively short period of time during the laying period.

Two nest regions 13 of adjacent aviaries are in a directly adjoiningrelationship, as can be seen from FIG. 2. Therefore, when thelongitudinal conveyor belt in the region of the nest is filled witheggs, the longitudinal conveyor belts 11 a, 12 a must be advanced atleast by double the length L2 in order to move a portion of the conveyorbelt which is empty into the nest region 13. As the length L2 in thepresent example is a quarter of L1, that advance movement on the part ofeach longitudinal conveyor belt 11 a, 12 a can be effected three times.On the fourth occasion, the filled region of each longitudinal conveyorbelt 11 a, 12 a would be conveyed out of the nest region 13 into thenest region 14. As in that situation, the longitudinal conveyor belt istherefore full, and the longitudinal conveyor belt must be continuouslyoperated after it has advanced three times by the length 2×L2 until alleggs are conveyed from the longitudinal conveyor belt 11 a, 12 a ontothe transverse conveyor belt 10.

FIG. 3 shows an arrangement of the force sensor according to theinvention, which is adapted to control the advance of the longitudinalconveyor belts 11 a-11 d and 12 a-12 d as shown as a function of thenumber of eggs which have rolled from the nest region 13 onto thelongitudinal conveyor belt. The eggs roll on an inclined plane 15 out ofthe nest region 13 to the longitudinal conveyor belt 11 a. The upper runof the longitudinal conveyor belt 11 a runs above a weighing pan 16which is coupled to a force sensor 18 by means of two L-shaped members17 a, 17 b. The force sensor 18 is fixedly connected to the frame of theaviaries by means of a U-shaped member 19. The force sensor 18ascertains the weight of the eggs arranged on an intermediate storageregion 16′ on the conveyor belt 11 a above the weighing pan 16.

The force sensor 18 can be in the form of a pressure sensor, butpreferably it is in the form of a flexural beam sensor acting at oneside, which represents a robust structure, which at the same time isalso reliable.

The procedure involved in the conveyor method of the arrangement shownin FIG. 3 is as follows. The eggs roll on the inclined plane 15 to astop wire outside the aviary frame (not shown). The stop wire slows downthe eggs and thus prevents those eggs from colliding with eggs which arealready lying on the longitudinal conveyor belt 11 a, and it iscyclically lifted to allow the eggs to pass through onto the conveyorbelt 11 a at a low speed. The greater the number of eggs on the conveyorbelt 11 a in the region above the weighing pan 16, the correspondinglygreater weight is detected by the force sensor 18. Upon the attainmentof a given limit value, which on the basis of an average egg weight,indicates complete filling of the longitudinal conveyor belt 11 a in theregion of the nest, the longitudinal conveyor belt is advanced by doublethe magnitude of the nest length in order to move an empty region of thelongitudinal conveyor belt 11 a into the nest region 13. That procedureis repeated three times, and on the fourth occasion, complete collectionof the eggs from the longitudinal conveyor belt 11 a is implemented bythe longitudinal conveyor belt being operated until it has covered atleast a total lengthwise extent of the conveyor belt (that is to sayhalf the length of the conveyor belt) and all eggs have been conveyedonto the transverse conveyor belt 10.

FIG. 4 a shows another embodiment of the force sensor according to theinvention in the entry region to a packaging station 20. The eggs arepassed to the packaging station 20 by one or more transverse conveyorbelts 10 by way of a funnel table 10′, and are brought together to thewidth of the packaging station 20 on the table by means of wall guideelements 21. That provides for compacting the distribution of the eggsin an intermediate storage region 21′ between the two wall guideelements 21. In the entry region of the packaging station 20, the eggsmust be introduced into guide passages 22 a, 22 b, etc. In thoseregions, a build-up and congestion or accumulation of eggs may occur byvirtue of transversely disposed eggs, which can lead to furthercompacting of the egg distribution. That compacting effect can mean thatthe horizontal pressure between the eggs in the entry region upstream ofthe packaging station can become so great that hair cracks are producedin the eggshells, or the eggs are completely destroyed.

In order to detect such a situation before damage occurs, arrangedlaterally in the entry region are two pressure sensors 23 a, 23 bcoupled to two half-round pressure pickup plates 24 a, 24 b. Thepressure pickup plates 24 a and 24 b project into the flow of eggs anddetect a superposed, horizontally acting force component in transverserelationship with the conveyor direction and in opposite relationship tothe conveyor direction. In relation to the level of the force detectedby the force sensors 23 a, 24 b, the conveyor speed of the transverseconveyor belt 10 is regulated. If the measured force rises, thetransverse conveyor belt speed is reduced, while if the force falls, thetransverse conveyor belt speed is increased.

FIG. 4 b shows an alternative to the arrangement of FIG. 4 a. In theFIG. 4 b arrangement, the force sensors 23 a, 24 b are replaced withlight barrier devices 25 a, 25 b which pass transversely over the entryregion of the packaging station 20. The light barrier devices are sooriented that they measure over the eggs which are lying flat on thebottom surface of the packaging station, as can be seen from FIG. 5. Assoon as an egg stands up on end, or the eggs come to lie one upon theother, they break the light beam of the light barrier device 25 a, 25 b.The number of such detected eggs is a measurement which reflects thehorizontal pressure between the eggs in the entry region, and can onceagain serve to regulate the transverse belt conveyor speed, as describedhereinbefore.

FIG. 4 c shows a further variant of the embodiment with light barrierdevices as shown in FIG. 4 b. In FIG. 4 c, there are a total of fourlight barrier elements 26 a-26 d which monitor the entry region of thepackaging station 20 over the area thereof, and thus ensure more precisedetection of eggs which are standing up or which are arranged one uponthe other.

FIG. 6 shows a variant of the embodiment of FIG. 4 a with force sensors.The transverse conveyor belt 110 conveys the eggs by way of a funneltable 110′ into a reaction region 122 in front of a packaging station120. Side wall elements 121 a, 121 b guide the eggs together andcompress the distribution thereof. Arranged at each of the side wallelements 121 a, 121 b is a respective pressure pickup 123 a, 123 bcoupled to a half-round deflection and pressure pickup plate 124 a, 124b. The pressure pickup plate 124 a, 124 b is respectively pivotablymounted in a hinge mounting 125 a, 125 b arranged on the side facingtowards the conveyor direction and as a result can freely movablytransmit a pressing force exerted by the eggs to the pressure pickup 123a, 123 b.

Placed centrally in the reaction region 122, in the form of an islandarrangement, are two further pressure sensors 123 c, 123 d which areagain supported by means of two half-round pressure pickup plates 124 c,124 d mounted pivotably in a common pivot mounting 125 c in order todetect the horizontal egg pressure in the central region. The use offour pressure pickups at mutually spaced locations with a differingmeasurement direction ensures that even local compression phenomena,indicative of egg distribution with unacceptably high horizontal forces,are detected, and the transverse belt conveyor speed can beappropriately regulated.

The pressure pickups 123 a-123 d are connected to a central transverseconveyor belt control 126, coupled in turn to a frequency converter 127for actuating the drive motor 128 for transverse belt conveyance.

A timing device 129 is also connected to the central control unit 126and indicates the advance of the transverse conveyor belt.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a display screen that provides visualizationof the full utilization and advance of the transverse conveyor belt 210.The transverse conveyor belt 210 is divided into a plurality oftransverse strips, each respective one of each represents a transverseconveyor belt length of 1 m.

Along the transverse conveyor belt 210, six longitudinal conveyor belts211 a-211 f communicate at spaced locations with the transverse conveyorbelt 210. The longitudinal conveyor belts are illustrated by box symbols211 a-211 f in which are shown parameters relating to the conveyorproperties of the longitudinal conveyor belt.

The left-hand end the transverse conveyor belt 210 leads to a packagingstation 220.

FIG. 7 shows a conveyor arrangement state in which the collectionoperation from the longitudinal conveyor belts 211 was begun a shorttime ago. That is represented by black bars in the transverse conveyorbelt regions downstream in the conveyor direction of the point of entryof the longitudinal conveyor belt 211 f. The black bar region 212symbolically represents the eggs deposited on the transverse conveyorbelt 210. In addition, a hatched rectangular region in the region of theentry of the longitudinal conveyor belt 211 f symbolically representsthe transverse conveyor belt width allocated to the longitudinalconveyor belt 211 f.

FIG. 8 shows the arrangement of FIG. 7 at a later time in the operationof transverse conveyor 123. In region 213 f filled to a reference value,the transverse conveyor belt picks up eggs to a transverse conveyor beltcapacity of 80 percent, which includes a safety margin in relation toutilization at full capacity. In the region 214, it is possible to seethe discharge of the collection of the first group of eggs, which can beseen by virtue of the fact that the width of the transverse conveyorbelt is utilized in a diagonally decreasing fashion. The first group, inthe direction of conveyor travel, is followed by a second group of eggs,which is put onto the transverse conveyor belt by activation of thelongitudinal conveyor belt 211 e. A gap 216 is left between the group213, 214, and the group 215, wherein the gap allows a short period oftime for conversion of the packaging station 220.

FIG. 9 shows a diagrammatic plan view of a conveyor arrangement havingtwo transverse conveyor belts 310, 312, and FIG. 10 shows a diagrammaticview of a display screen that provides visualization of that conveyorarrangement. As can be seen, arranged at each transverse conveyor belt310, 312 are a plurality of longitudinal conveyor belts 311 a-311 e, 313a-313 e, which lead onto the transverse conveyor belt 310 and 312,respectively, at spaced locations. Each longitudinal conveyor belt 311a-311 e, 313 a-313 e has its own local control, which actuates thelongitudinal conveyor belt as a function of a weighing sensor, as shownin FIG. 3, and at the command of a higher order central control system330, which causes total emptying of the longitudinal conveyor belt ontothe corresponding transverse conveyor belt.

Both transverse conveyor belts 310, 312 open to a packaging station 320.

As can be seen from FIG. 10, the eggs collected on the transverseconveyor belt are placed thereon in a locally displaced relationshipfrom four activated longitudinal conveyors 331 c-331 f, and are fed inthe form of an interconnected block corresponding to the capacity of thepackaging station 320, to the packaging station 320. On the transverseconveyor belt 312, only the longitudinal conveyor belts 313 d-331 f areactive, and it is only after a further advance of the transverseconveyor belt 312 that the further longitudinal conveyor belts 313 a-313f are switched on.

FIG. 11 shows a portion of a transverse conveyor belt 410 with aplurality of longitudinal conveyor belts 411 a-411 e which connect withthe transverse conveyor belt 410 at locations of entry of which arespaced from each other in the conveyor direction. A plurality of eggs,which are symbolically represented by circles on the conveyor belt, areconveyed on the transverse conveyor belt in the conveyor direction shownby the arrow.

As will be seen, the products pass into the illustrated portion of thetransverse conveyor belt at the right-hand edge, as viewed in thedirection of the transverse conveyor belt, and would therefore impedethe feed of further eggs from the longitudinal conveyor belts 411 a-411e, as they would first have to press the eggs, which are already on thetransverse conveyor belt, in the direction of the left-hand edge, asseen in the direction of conveying movement of the transverse conveyorbelt, with a considerable horizontal pressure. In that situation, theeggs can suffer damage.

Arranged upstream of longitudinal conveyor belt 411 e in the conveyordirection of transverse conveyor belt 410 is an egg guide device 420 a,which includes an egg guide plate 421 a mounted pivotably in a laterallyand stationarily supported pivot mounting 422 a. The egg guide plate 421a can be pivoted into or out of the region above the transverse conveyorbelt 410 by means of an actuator, which in this case, is an electricallinear drive 423 a with position feedback signaling.

Arranged in a similar fashion and of a similar structure, between thelongitudinal conveyor belts 411 d and 411 e, between the longitudinalconveyor belts 411 c and 411 d and between the longitudinal conveyorbelts 411 b and 411 c, are respective egg guide devices 420 b-420 d,which are of the same structure as the egg guide device 420 a.

In the illustrated conveyor condition, additional eggs are conveyed fromthe longitudinal conveyor belts 411 a-411 e to add to the eggs which arealready on the transverse conveyor belt 410. In order to avoid damage tothe additional eggs which are being supplied thereto, or the eggs whichare already on the transverse conveyor belt, in that conveyor condition,the egg guide device 420 a is pivoted into the region above thetransverse conveyor belt 410 to such an extent that the eggs aredeflected from the right-hand side to the left-hand side, so that spaceis provided for the eggs additionally arriving from the longitudinalconveyor belts 411 a-411 e. The egg guide devices 420 b and 420 c arenot pivoted out.

The egg guide device 420 d is pivoted out by a lesser amount than theegg guide device 420 a in order to guide the eggs which are additionallyarriving from the longitudinal conveyor belts 411 d, 411 e away from theright-hand edge of the transverse conveyor belt, and thus provide spacefor the eggs which are being added from the longitudinal conveyor belts411 a, 411 b, without guiding the entire flow of eggs on the transverseconveyor belt excessively far in the direction of the left-hand edge ofthe transverse conveyor belt, as that would cause damage to the eggswhich are already on the transverse conveyor belt 410.

The electrical linear drives 423 a-423 d and the position feedbacksignaling units of those drives of the egg guide devices 420 a-420 d arecoupled to the central control system, and are actuated as a function ofthe number of eggs already on the transverse conveyor belt, theirarrangement, and possibly the conveyor rate of the longitudinal conveyorbelts which are additionally feeding eggs, and are extended to such anextent that neither damage to the deflected eggs nor damage to the eggswhich are being added can occur.

The conveyor method according to the invention operates as follows.

At a time about three hours after the beginning of laying, thelongitudinal conveyor belt 311 f which is most remote from the packagingstation is activated and conveys the eggs onto the transverse conveyorbelt 310. The transverse conveyor belt 310 is also activated and conveysthe eggs in the direction of the packaging station 320. As soon as theeggs moved onto the transverse conveyor belt 310 by the longitudinalconveyor belt 311 f reach the point of entry of the longitudinalconveyor belt 311 e, the longitudinal conveyor belt 311 e is alsoactivated and conveys the eggs onto the transverse conveyor belt 310. Inthat way, the eggs on the two longitudinal conveyor belts 311 e, 311 fare added to give a total transverse conveyor belt width. As soon asthat region reaches the point of entry of the longitudinal conveyor belt311 d, longitudinal conveyor belt 311 d is also activated, and so forth,until activation of the longitudinal conveyor belt 311 a occurs. In thatway, full utilization of capacity is achieved over the full width of thetransverse conveyor belt, and at the beginning of the work done by thepackers at the packaging station 320, the transverse conveyor belt iscompletely filled, and the eggs are positioned just upstream of thepackaging station 320.

The eggs supplied by each longitudinal conveyor belt are counted in theregion of the mouth opening of the respective longitudinal conveyorbelts to provide a check concerning the laying output of the respectivehenhouse or the respective rows of aviaries. Furthermore, the eggcounting operation makes it possible to precisely determine the eggsdisposed on the transverse conveyor belt. As soon as it is recognizedthat a longitudinal conveyor belt contains a very high number of eggs,for example by a high number of eggs already being counted with a shortadvance movement of the longitudinal conveyor belt, a greater transverseconveyor belt width is allocated to that longitudinal conveyor belt, anda correspondingly reduced width is allocated to the other longitudinalconveyor belts. This ensures that even the longitudinal conveyor beltwhich is filled to an above-average extent is emptied within a period oftime in which the other longitudinal conveyor belts are also emptied.This dynamic regulation can possibly be further adapted if otherlongitudinal conveyor belts emerge as being emptied belatedly orprematurely.

The method according to the invention is the first to make it possibleto provide for automatic regulation and full utilization of the capacityof the packaging station as a function of the eggs supplied by theindividual longitudinal conveyor belts and the individual spacingthereof from the packaging station, as well as the respective currentlyprevailing transverse conveyor belt advance.

In the foregoing description, it will be readily appreciated by thoseskilled in the art that modifications may be made to the inventionwithout departing from the concepts disclosed herein. Such modificationsare to be considered as included in the following claims, unless theseclaims by their language expressly state otherwise.

1. A conveyor for transporting shock-sensitive products comprising: aconveyor member adapted to receive and support shock-sensitive productsthereon having a static condition, as well as a dynamic condition duringwhich the shock-sensitive products thereon are transported toward aprocessing station; at least one intermediate storage region of saidconveyor member adapted to receive and support a predetermined criticalnumber of the shock-sensitive products placed thereon when said conveyoris in said static condition for temporary, intermediate storage of theshock-sensitive products; a control member adapted for increasing anddecreasing the rate of feed of the shock-sensitive products on saidconveyor member toward and away from said intermediate storage regionwhen the number of the shock-sensitive products in said intermediatestorage region exceeds said predetermined critical number; a forcemeasuring member adapted and arranged to detect and measure the weightforce exerted by the shock-sensitive products disposed in saidintermediate storage region of said conveyor member as an indication ofthe number of shock-sensitive products in said intermediate storageregion; and wherein said control member is adapted to process saidweight force detected by said force measuring member as an inputparameter, and increase or reduce said rate of feed of theshock-sensitive products on said conveyor member toward and away fromsaid intermediate storage region as a function of said weight force; andsaid control member is adapted to adjust said conveyor member steplesslyas a function of the force detected by said force measuring member.
 2. Aconveyor as set forth in claim 1, wherein: said control member isadapted to reduce the feed of shock-sensitive products to saidintermediate storage region and increase the feed of shock-sensitiveproducts removed from said intermediate storage region when apredetermined force value detected by said force measuring member isexceeded.
 3. A conveyor as set forth in claim 1, wherein: said forcemeasuring member is disposed beneath the shock-sensitive products insaid intermediate storage region to measure the weight force in avertical direction, and to detect the combined weight force of theshock-sensitive products in said intermediate storage region.
 4. Aconveyor as set forth in claim 2, wherein: said force measuring memberis coupled to a horizontally arranged weighing plate disposed beneathsaid conveyor member on which the shock-sensitive products are arrangedat said intermediate storage region.
 5. A conveyor as set forth in claim3, wherein: said control member is adapted to actuate said conveyormember from said static condition when a predetermined cumulative weightforce from the shock-sensitive products in said intermediate storageregion is exceeded, so that the shock-sensitive products are conveyed onsaid conveyor member out of said intermediate storage region.
 6. Aconveyor for transporting shock-sensitive products comprising: aconveyor member adapted to receive and support shock-sensitive productsthereon having a static condition, as well as a dynamic condition duringwhich the shock-sensitive products thereon are transported toward aprocessing station; at least one intermediate storage region of saidconveyor member adapted to receive and support a predetermined criticalnumber of the shock-sensitive products placed thereon when said conveyoris in said static condition for temporary, intermediate storage of theshock-sensitive products; a control member adapted for increasing anddecreasing the rate of feed of the shock-sensitive products on saidconveyor member toward and away from said intermediate storage regionwhen the number of the shock-sensitive products in said intermediatestorage region exceeds said predetermined critical number; a forcemeasuring member adapted and arranged to detect and measure the weightforce exerted by the shock-sensitive products disposed in saidintermediate storage region of said conveyor member as an indication ofthe number of shock-sensitive products in said intermediate storageregion; and wherein said control member is adapted to process saidweight force detected by said force measuring member as an inputparameter, and increase or reduce said rate of feed of theshock-sensitive products on said conveyor member toward and away fromsaid intermediate storage region as a function of said weight force,wherein: said force measuring member is disposed beneath theshock-sensitive products in said intermediate storage region to measurethe weight force in a vertical direction, and to detect the combinedweight force of the shock-sensitive products in said intermediatestorage region; said conveyor member includes a conveyor belt on whichsaid intermediate storage region extends by a given length; and saidcontrol member is adapted such that said conveyor belt is furtherconveyed by precisely the length of said intermediate storage regionwhen the combined force of said predetermined critical number ofshock-sensitive products in said intermediate storage region isexceeded.
 7. A conveyor as set forth in claim 3, wherein: a plurality ofsaid intermediate storage regions are arranged in a mutually spacedapart relationship along said conveyor member; and said control memberis so adapted that when a predetermined cumulative force caused by theweight of said shock-sensitive products in said intermediate storageregion is first exceeded, said conveyor member is further conveyed by alength equal to the length of said intermediate storage region, and whena predetermined cumulative force due to the weight of theshock-sensitive products is subsequently exceeded in said intermediatestorage region, said conveyor member is conveyed again by a length equalto the length of said intermediate storage region, which procedure isrepeated up to a predetermined number of repetitions until the conveyormember is substantially fully occupied with the shock-sensitiveproducts, at which point all of the shock-sensitive products on saidconveyor member are transported toward the processing station.
 8. Aconveyor as set forth in claim 6, including: a plurality of saidconveyor belts, each having at least one of said intermediate storageregions; at least one of said intermediate storage regions includes saidforce measuring member to measure the weight force of theshock-sensitive products in said intermediate storage region; andwherein said control member is so adapted that each of said conveyorbelts is further conveyed by a length equal to the length of saidintermediate storage region when a predetermined cumulative force due tothe weight of the shock-sensitive products in said intermediate storageregion is exceeded.
 9. A conveyor as set forth in claim 6, wherein: saidconveyor member includes a plurality of said conveyor belts, each havingat least one of said intermediate storage regions, each of whichincludes one of said force measuring members; and wherein said controlmember is adapted such that all of said conveyor belts are furtherconveyed by a length equal to the length of said intermediate storageregions when the force weight of the shock-sensitive products in one ofsaid intermediate storage regions is detected by said associated forcemeasuring member, or the mean value of the weight force of the weight ofthe shock-sensitive products in all of said intermediate storage regionsexceeds a predetermined value.
 10. A conveyor for transportingshock-sensitive products comprising: a conveyor member adapted toreceive and support shock-sensitive products thereon having a staticcondition, as well as a dynamic condition during which theshock-sensitive products thereon are transported toward a processingstation; at least one intermediate storage region of said conveyormember adapted to receive and support a predetermined critical number ofthe shock-sensitive products placed thereon when said conveyor is insaid static condition for temporary, intermediate storage of theshock-sensitive products; a control member adapted for increasing anddecreasing the rate of feed of the shock-sensitive products on saidconveyor member toward and away from said intermediate storage regionwhen the number of the shock-sensitive products in said intermediatestorage region exceeds said predetermined critical number; a forcemeasuring member adapted and arranged to detect and measure the weightforce exerted by the shock-sensitive products disposed in saidintermediate storage region of said conveyor member as an indication ofthe number of shock-sensitive products in said intermediate storageregion; and wherein said control member is adapted to process saidweight force detected by said force measuring member as an inputparameter, and increase or reduce said rate of feed of theshock-sensitive products on said conveyor member toward and away fromsaid intermediate storage region as a function of said weight force;said force measuring member is arranged and adapted to measure in ahorizontal direction a horizontal pressing force which exists betweenthe shock-sensitive products in said intermediate storage region; andsaid force measuring member is coupled with a movable wall portion todetect the horizontal surface pressure exerted by the shock-sensitiveproducts on said movable wall portion.
 11. A conveyor as set forth inclaim 10, wherein: said movable wall portion faces in an oppositedirection of said conveyor member in said intermediate storage region,and includes a second wall surface region which faces parallel to saidconveyor member in said intermediate storage region.
 12. A conveyor asset forth in claim 10, wherein: said movable wall portion has ahalf-round shape.
 13. A conveyor for transporting shock-sensitiveproducts comprising: a conveyor member adapted to receive and supportshock-sensitive products thereon having a static condition, as well as adynamic condition during which the shock-sensitive products thereon aretransported toward a processing station; at least one intermediatestorage region of said conveyor member adapted to receive and support apredetermined critical number of the shock-sensitive products placedthereon when said conveyor is in said static condition for temporary,intermediate storage of the shock-sensitive products; a control memberadapted for increasing and decreasing the rate of feed of theshock-sensitive products on said conveyor member toward and away fromsaid intermediate storage region when the number of the shock-sensitiveproducts in said intermediate storage region exceeds said predeterminedcritical number; a force measuring member adapted and arranged to detectand measure the weight force exerted by the shock-sensitive productsdisposed in said intermediate storage region of said conveyor member asan indication of the number of shock-sensitive products in saidintermediate storage region; and wherein said control member is adaptedto process said weight force detected by said force measuring member asan input parameter, and increase or reduce said rate of feed of theshock-sensitive products on said conveyor member toward and away fromsaid intermediate storage region as a function of said weight force,further including: a second conveyor member adapted to receive andsupport shock-sensitive products thereon; a second intermediate storageregion of said second conveyor member adapted to receive and support theshock-sensitive products thereon and store the same temporarily in saidsecond intermediate storage region upon discontinuous feed or dischargeof the shock-sensitive products; a second control device for increasingand/or reducing the feed of products into said second intermediatestorage region of said second conveyor member when a predeterminedcritical number of shock-sensitive products in said second intermediatestorage region is exceeded; a second measuring device disposed in saidsecond intermediate storage region which is adapted or arranged todetect the number of shock-sensitive products standing up in said secondintermediate storage region, and which measures the horizontal forcebetween the shock-sensitive products in said second intermediate storageregion; and wherein said second control member is adapted to process thedata detected by said second measuring member as an input parameter, andincrease or decrease the rate of feed of the shock-sensitive products onsaid second conveyor member toward and away from said secondintermediate storage region as a function thereof; said secondintermediate storage region is disposed in a transfer region between afirst feeding conveyor apparatus and a second discharging conveyorapparatus; said second control member is adapted such that when apredetermined pressing force between the shock-sensitive products, orthe number of shock-sensitive products standing up in said secondintermediate storage region, is exceeded, the conveyor rate of saidsecond conveyor member is reduced and/or the conveyor rate of thedischarging conveyor apparatus is increased; and wherein the conveyorrate of at least one of said conveyor members can be altered in astepless fashion.
 14. A conveyor for transporting shock-sensitiveproducts comprising: a conveyor member adapted to receive and supportshock-sensitive products thereon having a static condition, as well as adynamic condition during which the shock-sensitive products thereon aretransported toward a processing station; at least one intermediatestorage region of said conveyor member adapted to receive and support apredetermined critical number of the shock-sensitive products placedthereon when said conveyor is in said static condition for temporary,intermediate storage of the shock-sensitive products; a control memberadapted for increasing and decreasing the rate of feed of theshock-sensitive products on said conveyor member toward and away fromsaid intermediate storage region when the number of the shock-sensitiveproducts in said intermediate storage region exceeds said predeterminedcritical number; a force measuring member adapted and arranged to detectand measure the weight force exerted by the shock-sensitive productsdisposed in said intermediate storage region of said conveyor member asan indication of the number of shock-sensitive products in saidintermediate storage region; and wherein said control member is adaptedto process said weight force detected by said force measuring member asan input parameter, and increase or reduce said rate of feed of theshock-sensitive products on said conveyor member toward and away fromsaid intermediate storage region as a function of said weight force,including: a transverse conveyor belt which conveys the shock-sensitiveproducts to a processing station; and wherein said conveyor membercomprises a plurality of longitudinal conveyor belts which are arrangedsuch that they convey the shock-sensitive products onto said transverseconveyor belt at various, mutually spaced locations, and includes adevice for detecting the conveyor advance of said transverse conveyorbelt in a regulating device which is coupled to said device and which isadapted at the beginning of conveyor operation to set said longitudinalconveyor belts in operation in a time-displaced relationship as afunction of the spacing between the entry point thereof onto saidtransverse conveyor belt and the processing station and as a function ofthe conveyor advance of said transverse conveyor belt.
 15. A conveyor asset forth in claim 14, wherein: said regulating device is adapted tofirst set in operation a first one of said longitudinal conveyor beltswhich is most remote from the processing station, and to set intooperation a second longitudinal one of said conveyor belts arrangedcloser to the processing station at the time at which said transverseconveyor belt has advanced to such an extent that the shock-sensitiveproducts delivered by said first longitudinal conveyor belt have reachedthe entry region of said second longitudinal conveyor belt.
 16. Aconveyor as set forth in claim 15, wherein: said longitudinal conveyorbelts define at least first and second groups; and said regulatingdevice is adapted to arrange the shock-sensitive products on saidlongitudinal conveyor belts of said first group on said transverseconveyor belt before the shock-sensitive products of said longitudinalconveyor belts of said second group.
 17. A conveyor as set forth inclaim 16, wherein: said regulating device is adapted to actuate thefirst in each group of said longitudinal conveyor belts remote from theprocessing station.
 18. A conveyor as set forth in claim 17, wherein:said regulating device is adapted to actuate said longitudinal conveyorbelts most remote from the processing station as the last group.
 19. Aconveyor set forth in claim 16, wherein: said regulating device isadapted to determine the moment of stopping of the last one of saidlongitudinal conveyor belts of a group, and actuate the first one ofsaid longitudinal conveyor belts of a subsequent group as a function ofthe spacing between the point of entry of said last longitudinalconveyor belt, and said first longitudinal conveyor belt along saidtransverse conveyor belt, and said transverse conveyor belt is advanced.20. A conveyor as set forth in claim 19, wherein: said regulating deviceis adapted to stop said longitudinal conveyor belts and said transverseconveyor belt when the last shock-sensitive product of a group has beenconveyed into the processing station.
 21. A conveyor as set forth inclaim 20, wherein: said regulating device is adapted to determine thenumber of times that the last shock-sensitive products of said lastlongitudinal conveyor belt of said first group and the firstshock-sensitive product of said first longitudinal conveyor belt of saidsecond group are deposited on said transverse conveyor belt in a jointmixed region.
 22. A conveyor as set forth in claim 20, wherein: saidregulating device is adapted to determine the number of times that anintermediate space is produced on said transverse conveyor belt betweenthe shock-sensitive products of said first group of said longitudinalconveyor belts and the shock-sensitive products of said second group ofsaid longitudinal conveyor belts.
 23. A conveyor as set forth in claim22, wherein: said regulating device is adapted to actuate so many ofsaid longitudinal conveyor belts and/or to regulate the conveyor speedof the activated ones of said longitudinal conveyor belts in such a waythat enough of the shock-sensitive products are fed to each region ofsaid transverse conveyor belt that a predetermined capacity of theprocessing station is achieved.
 24. A conveyor as set forth in claim 23,wherein: said regulating device is adapted to allocate a fraction ofsaid transverse conveyor belt width to each activated one of saidlongitudinal conveyor belts and to regulate the conveyor speed of eachof said longitudinal conveyor belts in such a way that the respectiveallocated width of said transverse conveyor belt is filled up with theshock-sensitive products by the respective one of said longitudinalconveyor belts.
 25. A conveyor as set forth in claim 24, wherein: eachof said longitudinal conveyor belts pre-stores a given number of theshock-sensitive products, and said regulating device is coupled tosensors for detecting the shock-sensitive products still stored on eachof said longitudinal conveyor belts and is adapted to allocate to theone of said longitudinal conveyor belts with fewer shock-sensitiveproducts thereon a smaller fraction of said transverse conveyor beltwidth than is allocated to those ones of said longitudinal conveyorbelts with more of the shock-sensitive products thereon such thatemptying of all of said longitudinal conveyor belts is finished at thesame time or in a predetermined time-displaced relationship.
 26. Aconveyor as set forth in claim 25, wherein: said regulating device iscoupled to said force measuring member at an exit region of saidtransverse conveyor belt or at a counting sensor and is adapted toregulate the conveyor speed of said transverse conveyor belt as afunction of the sensor signal.
 27. A conveyor as set forth in claim 26,including: a display device coupled to said regulating device to obtainfrom said regulating device signals for positively identifying thenumber of shock-sensitive products on said transverse conveyor belt. 28.A conveyor as set forth in claim 27, including: product counting devicesin the entry region of said longitudinal conveyor belts, which detectthe number of shock-sensitive products fed to said transverse conveyorbelt and communicate the same to a central control.
 29. A conveyor asset forth in claim 28, including: at least one movable product guidearranged above said transverse conveyor belt and coupled to an actuatoradapted to move said product guide into at least two positions in thesupport region of said transverse conveyor belt; and wherein saidproduct guide is laterally spaced on said transverse conveyor belt insuch a way that it guides the shock-sensitive products on saidtransverse conveyor belt away from the entry region of at least one ofsaid longitudinal conveyor belts.
 30. A conveyor as set forth in claim29, including: a plurality of said movable product guides which arerespectively arranged upstream of the entry regions of a plurality ofsaid longitudinal conveyor belts in the conveyor direction of saidtransverse conveyor belt.
 31. A conveyor as set forth in claim 30,wherein: said actuator of each of said product guides is coupled to acentral control device, and is actuated as a function of the degree offilling said transverse conveyor belt that is calculated by said controldevice from supplied shock-sensitive products and transverse beltadvance upstream of the respective product guide in order to guide theshock-sensitive products from the entry region of said longitudinalconveyor belts to the degree permitted.
 32. A conveyor as set forth inclaim 31, wherein: said actuators of each of said product guides areactuated as a function of a groupwise collection of the shock-sensitiveproducts.
 33. A conveyor for transporting shock-sensitive productscomprising: a conveyor member adapted to receive and supportshock-sensitive products thereon having a static condition, as well as adynamic condition during which the shock-sensitive products thereon aretransported toward a processing station; at least one intermediatestorage region of said conveyor member adapted to receive and support apredetermined critical number of the shock-sensitive products placedthereon when said conveyor is in said static condition for temporary,intermediate storage of the shock-sensitive products; a control memberadapted for increasing and decreasing the rate of feed of theshock-sensitive products on said conveyor member toward and away fromsaid intermediate storage region when the number of the shock-sensitiveproducts in said intermediate storage region exceeds said predeterminedcritical number; a force measuring member adapted and arranged to detectand measure the weight force exerted by the shock-sensitive productsdisposed in said intermediate storage region of said conveyor member asan indication of the number of shock-sensitive products in saidintermediate storage region; and wherein said control member is adaptedto process said weight force detected by said force measuring member asan input parameter, and increase or reduce said rate of feed of theshock-sensitive products on said conveyor member toward and away fromsaid intermediate storage region as a function of said weight force;said force measuring member is disposed beneath the shock-sensitiveproducts in said intermediate storage region to measure the weight forcein a vertical direction and to detect the combined weight force of theshock-sensitive products in said intermediate storage region; and saidintermediate storage regions arranged so that they receive eggs laid innest regions in cages arranged in a row along said conveyor member. 34.A conveyor as set forth in claim 10, wherein: said intermediate storageregion of said transverse conveyor belt is disposed upstream of apackaging apparatus.
 35. A method of conveying eggs adjacent a henhousecomprising a plurality of cage units, comprising: a. temporarily storingthe eggs laid in a first nest region of a cage or in a first cage on afirst intermediate storage region of a stationary conveyor belt; b.measuring the total force due to the weight of the eggs in the firstintermediate storage region; c. conveying of the conveyor belt by apredetermined distance which is such that a conveyor belt portion whichis not occupied with eggs is provided as a first intermediate storageregion; d. repeating of steps a to c up to a time at which furtherconveyance of the conveyor belt by the predetermined distance wouldprovide a conveyor belt portion already occupied with eggs due to anadjacent second intermediate storage region of a nest region of anadjacent second cage or a second cage, as the first intermediate storageregion; and e. further conveying of the conveyor belt until the eggsdeposited thereon have been transferred completely onto a secondconveyor belt or into a storage means.
 36. A method as set forth inclaim 35, comprising: conveying the products on a transverse conveyorbelt to a processing station; delivering products by a plurality oflongitudinal conveyor belts onto the transverse conveyor belt atvarious, mutually spaced locations; and wherein the conveyor advance ofthe transverse conveyor belt is detected, and at the beginning of theconveyor operation, the longitudinal conveyor belts are set in operationin a time-displaced relationship as a function of the spacing betweentheir point of entry onto the transverse conveyor belt and theprocessing station, and the conveyor advance of the transverse conveyorbelt.
 37. A method as set forth in claim 36, wherein: the firstlongitudinal conveyor belt most remote from the processing station isset in operation first, and a second conveyor belt arranged closer tothe processing station is set in operation at the time at which thetransverse conveyor belt has advanced to such an extent that theproducts conveyed by the first longitudinal conveyor belt have reachedthe entry region of the second longitudinal conveyor belt.
 38. A methodas set forth in claim 37, wherein: before the beginning of the conveyoroperation, at least two groups of longitudinal conveyor belts aredefined, and the longitudinal conveyor belts of the first group areactivated first, and the longitudinal conveyor belts of the second groupare activated subsequently.
 39. A method as set forth in claim 38,wherein: in each group, the longitudinal conveyor belt furthest awayfrom the processing station is activated first.
 40. A method as setforth in claim 39, wherein: the longitudinal conveyor belts of the groupwith the longitudinal conveyor belt furthest away from the processingstation are activated as the last group.
 41. A method as set forth inclaim 40, wherein: the time of stopping the last longitudinal conveyorbelt of a group and activating the first longitudinal conveyor belt of asubsequent group is determined as a function of the spacing between thepoint of entry of the last longitudinal conveyor belt and the firstlongitudinal conveyor belt to the transverse conveyor belt, and thetransverse conveyor belt advance.
 42. A method as set forth in claim 41,wherein: the longitudinal conveyor belts and the transverse conveyorbelt are stopped when the last product of a group has been conveyed intoa processing apparatus.
 43. A method as set forth in claim 42, wherein:the last product of the last longitudinal conveyor belt of the firstgroup and the first products of the first longitudinal conveyor belt ofthe second group are deposited in a common mixed region on thetransverse conveyor belt.
 44. A method as set forth in claim 42,wherein: an intermediate space is provided on the transverse conveyorbelt between the products of the first group of longitudinal conveyorbelts and the products of the second group of longitudinal conveyorbelts.
 45. A method as set forth in claim 44, wherein: so manylongitudinal conveyor belts are activated and/or the conveyor speed ofthe activated longitudinal conveyor belts is regulated such that so manyproducts are fed to each region of the transverse conveyor belt that apredetermined capacity of the processing station is attained.
 46. Amethod as set forth in claim 45, wherein: a function of the transverseconveyor belt width is allocated to each activated longitudinal conveyorbelt and the conveyor speed of each longitudinal conveyor belt is soregulated that the respectively allocated width of the transverseconveyor belt is filled with products by the respective longitudinalconveyor belt.
 47. A method as set forth in claim 46, wherein: eachlongitudinal conveyor belt pre-stores a given number of products and theproducts still stored on each longitudinal conveyor belt are detected bymeans of sensors and a smaller fraction of the transverse conveyor beltwidth is allocated to a longitudinal conveyor belt with fewer productsthan to a longitudinal conveyor belt with more products in order toachieve termination of emptying of all longitudinal conveyor belts atthe same time or in time-displaced relationship by a given amount.
 48. Amethod as set forth in claim 47, wherein: a force sensor arranged at thedischarge region of the transverse conveyor belt measures the pressingforce prevailing horizontally between the products in the dischargeregion and the conveyor speed of the transverse conveyor belt isregulated in dependence on the force sensor signal.
 49. A method as setforth in claim 48, wherein: the conveyor speed of the transverseconveyor belt is reduced if the measured pressing force exceeds apredetermined value.
 50. A method as set forth in claim 49, wherein: theconveyor speed of the transverse conveyor belt is increased if themeasured pressing force falls below a predetermined value.
 51. A methodas set forth in claim 50, wherein: the conveyor speed of thelongitudinal conveyor belts and/or the transverse conveyor belt issteplessly altered.
 52. A method as set forth in claim 51, wherein: aprocessing start time is input and activation and conveyor speed of thelongitudinal conveyor belts and the transverse conveyor belt are startedat a time ascertained in dependence of the spacing between thelongitudinal conveyor belt entry onto the transverse conveyor belt andthe transverse conveyor belt advance in order to feed products to theprocessing station in a predetermined capacity at the start time of theprocessing station.
 53. A method as set forth in claim 52, including:programming a computer program for execution on a computer forcontrolling the actuation and speed of the conveyor belt.
 54. A conveyoras set forth in claim 1, including; a computer member communicating withsaid control member and said force measuring member, and programmed tocontrol the activation and speed of said conveyor member.